80's Potential Now Realized..

As a Joe collector of the 3 3/4" line that traces his 'heritage' back to the very beginnings, there were always figures which niggled at the back of my mind as never having lived up to the gorgeous artwork on the card. In other words, the potential of what the figure could have been based on that card art just seemed lacking in some way. For instance; before posting this Thread I was looking at an 80's carded Quick Kick and admiring the gorgeous card art, then I looked at the deformed looking lump that we received as the figure version of that art. Okay, deformed lump is perhaps being a bit unkind, but hopefully you see where I'm going with this.

My point with this Thread is two fold. One, to espouse how wonderfully Hasbro has erased past wrongs by finally doing RIGHT by that gorgeous 80's card art, and producing figures that now in many ways surpass it! Trust me, as an artist who appreciates the beauty of art first, that's saying a lot coming from me.

And two, to see if any of you have old favorite Joes from the 80's that didn't come quite close to the beauty of the card art on the packaging. I know there's gotta be a few out there, and probably more than a few. Or maybe the figure surpassed the art for you, and you have a few stories you'd like to share. Regardless, I look forward to hearing what you folks have to say.

I guess I'd have to say Storm Shadow v1. The card art is awesome, but the figure (particularly the head scupt) was always kind of "meh." The 25th version, however, is very nearly perfect (IMHO).

Originally Posted by mister_e

I guess I'd have to say Storm Shadow v1. The card art is awesome, but the figure (particularly the head scupt) was always kind of "meh." The 25th version, however, is very nearly perfect (IMHO).

Oh man, good example! He was one that I completely wanted to have as a favorite as a kid, but man that figure just didn't look anything like the art- and still doesn't. The 25th version though- perfection!

Great topic!
I have 2 that come to mind right off hand. They aren't my favorite figures by any means but I do recall being totally bummed about their figure design compared to the card rendering.

Repeater 88' = A simple, sturdy realistic design and had one of the coolest gun/accessoriies in the line (It's the freaking steadi- cam machine gun from Aliens!!)
....but alas, Hasbro decided to take all of that bad-assedness and mix in .....the face of an ooompa-loompa!


Cross-Country 86' = This is another one with a lot of potential but once again hasbro decides to kill this figure with headsculpt which always resembled Barney Rubble to me when I was a kid! Throw in those white "leggings" on his boots, the sloppy design of the confederate hat and the overall use of way too many clashing colors and we received a sub par figure to pilot the Havoc.

Originally Posted by mister_e

I guess I'd have to say Storm Shadow v1. The card art is awesome, but the figure (particularly the head scupt) was always kind of "meh." The 25th version, however, is very nearly perfect (IMHO).

I totally agree! He always looked like he was sad or bored. Come to think of it, moast of the early cobra headsculpts looked rather melancholy and disappointed
(copperhead, cobra soldiers/officers, Firefly, scrap iron)

???

Being a fan of Dreadnoks, I'd have to say Zarana, Zandar, Road Pig, and Thrasher. The artwork looked great, but the figure sculpts always looked a little off. Lady Jaye is also a good example which is funny seeing how so many people are unhappy with her current sculpt. Just look at the 80s figure of her. Yet the card artwork portrayed her as a Pat Benetar-type military woman.

Cross County was a great example mentioned here.. My brothers & I always thought him (& GRUNT/GRAND SLAM) were the biggest uggo's of the Joe line for the figures...

Ooh! Breaker! He has a bread and yet the art shows none!

I always thought Lady Jaye had that 1940's/50's traditional all-American girl look to her. I think the new figure actually looks a lot like the artwork (I think a lot of fans wanted her to look like the cartoon version, which was more of a Southern country girl look).

Anyways, back on topic, I think Scarlett's new figure really improved upon the old one. The old one looked like a 13-year-old boy who wasn't happy being a redhead.

Originally Posted by the_loud_master

Ooh! Breaker! He has a bread and yet the art shows none!

I dont see any bread........are you sure its breaker? :P

I would say Scarlet looked like crap. She was a pretty bad figure. Even by early joe standards.